East Mountain Trails & Bikeways Master Plan - Bernalillo County

The area also is a destination for tourists and
recreational users. The Sandia and Manzanita
Mountains attract picnickers, hikers, runners,
road cyclists, mountain bikers, motorcyclists,
equestrians, and jeep and all-terrain vehicles
drivers during the warm months. The Sandia Ski
Area and Cibola National Forest offer trails and
runs for downhill and cross county skiing, as well
as sledding and snowshoeing in the winter
months. Bicyclists and roller skiers tour and race
along NM 14, Frost Road, NM 333 and other
major corridors. The paved path along NM 14
offers leisure opportunities for dog walkers,
joggers, and casual cyclists.
Two major roadways intersect in the Village of
Tijeras (the Spanish name for scissors), roughly
dividing the East Mountain Area into four
quadrants. Interstate 40, which replaced Old
Route 66 (renamed NM 333 or the “I-40 frontage
road”) bisects the area from east to west. NM
14/NM 337 form the major north-south spine (and
is still referred to as North and South 14). Most of
the commercial activities and public institutions
such as the schools, post offices, and library are
located along NM 14/337, with a few
establishments dotting the frontage road on NM
333.
With no public transportation available, residents
depend upon personal vehicles, private van
services, or their own foot power to go places. A
rudimentary spine of a trail and bikeways system
is in place. There are wide shoulders along NM
333 from Albuquerque to Tijeras and along parts
of other roads. There are shoulders and asphalt
path along NM 14 from Tijeras to Frost Road.
Recently Bernalillo County constructed an
asphalt path along NM 14 from San Antonito
Elementary School to Vista Grande Community
Center. Sidewalks are non-existent in rural parts
of the Project Area and many unpaved rural
roads also serve as trail facilities for many users.
Residents travel on informal dirt paths on both
sides of Frost Road and through various parcels
of public and private land in the area. The Cibola
National Forest also maintains a network of trails
on their land both north and south of I-40. There
remains, however, a lack of formal trail and
bikeway connections to schools and other public
facilities and open space properties, sufficient
shoulders on many roads, trail access, and safe
crossings that would create a truly interconnective
trails and bikeways system.
Section B. Project History
East Mountain residents have long desired to
preserve what they consider a rural lifestyle and
atmosphere. This is broadly defined as large-lot
development, privacy and independence, open
spaces and dark skies. It also embraces room for
farm animals and agriculture, conservation of
water and wildlife habitat, and small-scale
commercial development. To this end, a steering
committee of area citizens worked with Bernalillo
County to develop the East Mountain Area Plan,
(EMAP 1992) which was adopted in 1992. Area
plans cover diverse, major geographic parts of
the metropolitan area, typically 15 or more
square miles, and specify important development
standards, key land use, utility and public facility
development. The EMAP is currently in the
process of being updated by the Bernalillo
County Zoning, Building and Planning
Department and is scheduled for completion and
adoption in 2005. EMAP Planners prepared a
Quality of Life Survey in early 2004 for East
Mountain residents as part of the EMAP update.
Over 75% of respondents said their families use
Cibola National Forest trails. Many respondents
also noted their desire for more trails and cited
trails and Open Space as reasons why they live
in the East Mountains.
The EMAP called for creating a multi-use
network of open spaces and trail corridors. It
advocated developing pedestrian and bicycle
trails separated from traffic lanes on roadways. It
also recommended a few general places for trails
to be completed—for example, multi-use trails on
the graded gravel pit and recreational use on
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EAST MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN